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Stabilized Mascarpone Whipped Cream

This stabilized whipped cream is my all-time favorite! It’s light and airy – perfect to top cupcakes or ice cream, dip fruit in, or just eat by the spoonful!

When it comes to frosting, the first thing I always do is assess if my favorite stabilized mascarpone whipped cream would be a good fit. It’s my default, go-to recipe. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine something that it wouldn’t go well with, but I suppose I’m slightly biased. It’s light, airy, and super easy to pipe with any kind of decorating tip. You could also just use an icing spatula to frost a cake.

There are even more posts where it’s been used but not mentioned by name, so if you feel like playing a game of “Where’s Waldo?”, start looking through the archives!

This isn’t the kind of whipped cream you get from an aerosol can. That kind of whipped cream loses its shape as it sits, and eventually gets melty and less than appetizing. But this whipped cream? It’s perfect.

It won’t lose it shape (and I’ve had it on top of cupcakes for multiple days and it never budged) and it won’t melt at room temperature. Now, if you take it to a BBQ that’s outside on a 95 degree day… I can’t make any promises. I start melting at that point, so you can’t blame the whipped cream.

It can support garnish, like fruit or sprinkles, without any trouble. Although, full disclaimer: if what you topped it with has color (like rainbow sprinkles or strawberries), it will eventually bleed into the whipped cream. So don’t top it until just before serving!

Once you’ve made it, you don’t need to re-whip it to get back the right consistency – it stays exactly the way you made it (as long as you store it in the fridge).

If you’re fancy schmancy and you have one of those stainless steel whipped cream dispensers, load it up! I’m not fancy, so mine just goes into a sealed plastic container… if there’s any left to store, which isn’t often. Seriously. One time I made a half batch of this and just sat down on the couch and ate it with a large spoon, right out of the mixing bowl. Okay, fine – it was a full batch. And maybe it was more than once. But once you make this, you will in no way judge me.

…okay, maybe you’ll still judge me a little bit.

You definitely need a KitchenAid for this recipe – don’t have one? Check out the Shop page to stock up on that and other kitchen essentials for this recipe!

How do you think it would work in a Cake Roll? I found your recipe because I was looking for a mascarpone cheese/whipped cream filling/frosting that tasted like the recipe I just used on a Tiramisu Layered Cake because the flavors tasted so good. But I don’t think that recipe would work in a roll cake, so I’m hoping this one will. Thanks!

This is the best whipped cream frosting/ filling recipe I’ve ever made, that I am even able to decorate with! Thanks so much! I would like to make this chocolate, have you made this recipe as chocolate yet? If so I would love to know the changes needed, I am using it for June 9th as I am making my chocaholic husband his 54th birthday cake for this Friday!

I’m so happy to hear you love it as much as I do 🙂 I haven’t actually make this as a chocolate whipped cream before, but I believe if you add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder (and just taste it before you add more to make sure you like it) you should be off to the races!

Thanks so much for the advice on making this chocolate! It worked out nicely. Right before it was the right consistency, I started adding about 2 Tbls of cocoa at a time (I needed more frosting, so I made 4 X the recipe) using about 8 Tbls of cocoa total. It made a very nice light chocolate whipped cream frosting! I know this will be my go to frosting from now on!

Have made it twice – LOVE it. My next foray is to fold some amaretto into it to make a topping for an adult dessert. Does it freeze well I just made it this weekend for a cookout to top angel food cupcakes and have some left over that I could use next week along with another double batch (which will be 2 weeks after it was made) for the 4th of July. What is its “shelf” life if it can’t be frozen? Thank you so much Best. ????

I’m so glad you love it as much as I do! I’ve actually never tried to freeze it – I have this problem where I eat it all the day I make it 🙂 But I have made it in advance of an event and kept it in the fridge for up to a week, and then just rewhipped it before frosting anything and that’s the longest I was comfortable letting it sit in the fridge. I hope that helps, and thanks for stopping by!

Thank you for the recipe and the information about how well this whipped cream holds up. Using this in a breakfast crepe. Buckwheat crepe spread with lemon curd then slathered with this awesome mascarpone whipped cream. Top with 1/2 cup of blueberries and fold the crepe. Garnish with more cream and 1 blueberry for the picture 🙂

I used only 1/4 cup of sugar and did not whip the cream as much as it looks like you did. But it whipped up beautifully. Put it in a pastry tube overnight and while it may have lost a little volume it still worked.

Thank you so much! I thought the proportion of mascarpone to cream was just right.

Regarding this recipe in a whipped cream dispenser – I had an outdoor party where we served blueberries and this whipped cream. Kept the dispenser on ice and it worked beautifully, I just kept filling it over a 4 hour time period. (I doubled this recipe twice in my mixer).

Modification for use in the dispenser – mix the mascarpone and sugar at a high speed in your electric mixer until well combined as it states above. Add the vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds on high.

Turn your mixer down to the lowest setting and add the heavy cream. Mix for 2-3 minutes and check consistency. If there are still lumps, mix another minute and check again. Keep checking until the lumps are gone.

You don’t want to actually whip the heavy cream, you just want to combine it with the mascarpone for use in your dispenser.

It passed the test kitchen. Cocoa powder turns the marscarpone whipped cream into chocolate mousse like filling. White almond cake, two layers of this chocolate filling and an Amoretto custard layer of filling. Not to sweet buttercream frosting for the frosting (so it can be covered in roses)… I will let you know what the guests think.

Hi Leslie, I usually frost my kids’ birthday cakes with marscapone frosting, which I make by following tiramisu recipes (ie mixing with beaten egg yolks and sugar and folding beTen egg whites). I’m happy to find your recipe and I’m going to try it when making my daughter’s birthday cake this weekend. How “friendly” is this frosting when decorating a cake? I am considering piping some flowers on top and sides of the cake.

I’ve used it with good success in decoration – but, for decoration on the sides of the cake to be sure I would probably decrease the amount of cream so that it’s a bit thicker. I hope it works out for you!

From what I understand mascarpone van be overwhipped easily and so I guess I did that. I kind of fixed. Since I’m getting to be a star in making curdled frosting. It all needs to be same temperature so I heated in microwave 15 secs, stirred, heated again, stirred until it was smooth again. It tastes great.

Hi there, I need to make a layered tres leche cake for a birthday tomorrow, is this a good combination or do you think it will taste funny? And also is it possible to add gelatin so it can last longer or will it not work??

I was hesitant about using regular sugar but it works in this recipe. I used Trader Joe’s whipping cream that you buy at room temp & then refrigerate. In place of vanilla I used Fiori di Sicilia from King Arthur Flour. It has a citrus flavor. I get compliments on it all the time. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Say goodbye to Philadelphia cream cheese & hello mascarpone!

Margaret, I don’t know that I would use this for a carrot cake, but truth is that this recipe is very delicious. We used it on pumpkin pie bites and it was great. Used it as a fruit parfait and was great as well. I think the Mascarpone cheese is not as full of flavor as cream cheese, which is what you would use for the carrot cake frosting, but nevertheless it is yummy.

Margaret, I don’t know that I would use this for a carrot cake, but truth is that this recipe is very delicious. We used it on pumpkin pie bites and it was great. Used it as a fruit parfait and was great as well. I think the Mascarpone cheese is not as full of flavor as cream cheese, which is what you would use for the carrot cake frosting, but nevertheless it is yummy.

Hello from Romania 😉 I want to try this recipe tomorrow, after several attempts to stabilize whipping cream with less or no success. Do whipping cream and mascarpone should be room temp or straight from the fridge? I really hope this mascarpone will be the answer of my troubles! Kind regards, Monica

Straight from the fridge is best – and putting the bowl in the fridge for a bit (the one that you’ll be whipping everything in) helps, too! You want it to be as cold as you can get it for the best results 🙂 I hope it works out for you and ends your search!

I was looking for the recipe I have and is very similar to yours, in fact it’s exactly the same, the quantity is just doubled. I made it some time ago and really loved it. Except I made a note next to the sugar part to maybe try powered sugar instead because the frosting had a somewhat gritty texture. I guess the sugar didn’t quite dissolve. I see there is another comment regarding the sugar…. so I guess my question is, do you think the powders sugar will do the job? Thanks!

That’s a great question – I have actually never tried it with powdered sugar since I’ve had such consistently great results using granulated. But if you try it, please do let me know how it turns out for you!

Would this cream be OK to ad as a cake filling for a 4 layer cake if I add the egg cream from the tiramisu verison to your mascarpone cream recipe? Is it going to be sturdy enough to fill in between layers?

I made my version of banana pudding cake. I wanted it light and airy. I made chiffon cake layers. For the middle layer filling, I folded pureed bananas with this recipe and then layered in sliced bananas. Then I frosted the entire outside of the cake with this recipe before lining the sides and and top border with vanilla wafers. Best ever. Everyone loved it. This whipped cream is the best!

I plan on making a banana cake for my son’s first birthday and I’m looking for a frosting that doesn’t have too much sugar. Have you ever tried it on banana cake and if not do you think it would work well? I’m hoping to do a raspberry compote filling and then icing the cake with this. Would dying it work or would the colors run together?

I have not put this on a banana cake before, but you could definitely decrease the amount of sugar if you’d like – it may change the consistency a bit but not drastically. But I think it would be delicious! You could definitely dye it, but I would recommend using paste dye (as opposed to liquid drops). You should only need a tiny bit!

Most definitely! I’ve done that in the past to top a tea cake and had wonderful results – and your idea on zucchini-carrot cupcakes sounds heavenly! I did something similar with my Spring Meringue Nests if you want to take a peek at what I did with it: http://stressbaking.com/2017/03/spring-meringue-nests.html/

Hi, I used this recipe recently to make a Tiramisu inspired Mille Feuille (so puff pastry layers with coffee pastry cream, chocolate ganache and this marscapone cream) and it worked absolutely wonderfully! It was a perfect accompaniment for my other components and held up well under the weight of the layers of puff pastry. I also added some rum and It was so delicious. Thanks for sharing 🙂

I would recommend swapping the vanilla extract for 1/2 tablespoon Baileys, and then add more to taste – you’ll add it at the same time you would have added the vanilla in the original recipe. It could become a little less stabilized, so if that’s a concern of yours I would also add an additional 1/2-1 tablespoon of mascarpone cheese to the original quantity.

This will be my first time making your recipe. I’m making small cream puffs for a dessert table. I’d like to make several “flavors”. I read above about folding in puréed fruit, love that and I also thought I’d like to make espresso flavored cream. Can I use instant powdered espresso folded in?

Wonderful! Put my bowl &beaters in the fridge overnight – followed the recipe exactly. Made a bundt cake, split it in half horizontally, filled the inside with strawberries & blueberries& icing, put top on, covered it with icing, decorated it with strawberries& blueberries. Served it for my husband’s birthday. Terrific – thanks so much!

I haven’t, and I don’t believe it would work out well, but anything is worth a shot, right? However, you can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days and give it a quick whip before you use it again.

Hi Leslie, I’m very excited to try this recipe. I see you call this a stabilized whipped cream but I don’t see any stabilizer in it. I would like to use this mascarpone whipped cream to frost and pipe onto a Genoise cake. Would I need to add a gelatin stabilizer in this recipe?.

This worked beautifully for me, I whipped it up this morning and then kept it in the fridge until tonight when I used it to top a French lemon cream pie. I like that the mascarpone doesn’t add any flavor to it, it really just tastes like delicious pure whipped cream but it has a little more body to it. I decreased the sugar due to personal preference.

If I make this and have cupcakes for a catering tomorrow, would it be better to wait until tomorrow to frost cupcakes? If I frost cupcakes tonight do they need to be refrigerated overnight? I don’t really want to put cupcakes in the fridge…. thank you for your advise!

I’m so sorry that I’m just getting back to you – I would definitely wait until the day of the event that you are serving your treats so that you can store the frosting in the fridge and the cupcakes elsewhere.

Namaste from Mumbai…! We don’t get heavy cream here n all I have been using is non dairy whipped cream which is sweet as well as flavoured… What do u suggest.. Do I use it and keep the sugar ratio same. Also if u can share the same recipe in gms.. Pls.. TIA..

I’m sorry, I’m not sure what kind of substitute will work the same way as thing as I haven’t tried it myself. There are also some great recipe converters online that will give you the amounts in grams!

I am making a white 6 layer cake and normally fill and crumb coat with buttercream. I depend on freezer/ refrigerator intervals to keep everything nice and firm. Do you think this recipe is capable of achieving a level firmness to properly support and coat this type of cake. It sounds delicious and I am willing to give it a try on a test cake but any preliminary help would be appreciated. Thanks for sharing this!

Hi there, so sorry for the delay! I’m not sure that it would suit the purpose you describe just because this frosting doesn’t crust the way a buttercream does – but it can be beautiful when it’s piped or used as the outer layer of frosting!

Dear Leslie, I am italian and here we don’t love buttercream too much, but in this period I have a passion for the cupcakes decoration and I would love to manage piping many types of flowers. Do you think that this cream/mascarpone frosting would substitute the buttercream with the same results?

It won’t be the same. This is more of a whipped cream consistency and doesn’t crust the way buttercream does. So you could certainly pipe flowers, but it’s not going to give you as clean a look, and won’t hold the same way that buttercream would.

Ok, I used 1Tbsp more mascarpone and then added 1/4 cup Trader Joe’s Turkish Honey instead of granulated sugar. It whipped up beautifully, and has a delightful, lightly sweet flavor. I used it for filling and topping an almond flour carrot cake, so all in all, very low carb (for a cake) but amazingly moist and flavorful, and the icing is perfect. Thanks for a great recipe!

“Heavy cream” or “heavy whipping cream” must have a fat content of 36% in the USA. While “whipping cream” must contain at least 30% fat. Adding softened unflavored gelatin will also add staying power, as this stabilizes the whipped cream so it doesn’t loose volume. All of these recipes containing milk, cream, raw eggs, cheeses should be kept under refrigeration to prevent bacteria growth and food born illness.

Mine curdled too!! I’ve made this once before (but I used 2 cups heavy cream instead of 1) and it was a total hit, pipable, smooth, and fantastic in taste and texture.

This time though it reached the soft peak stage, but I needed this to pipe, so I continued to whip, but then the moisture started to come out and it became…loose and instead of creamy, it looked like it had small curds in it. What do you think happened? I really appreciate your input :).

Yikes! Sorry to hear that. It sounds like your bowl got too warm and it was whipped for too long. I find that placing the bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes before I make it helps keep it cold, but to be honest I’ve never run into any curdling issues before (and I’ve made this a LOT). I hope that helps!

Mine curdled too, are you saying that it could have been caused by overwhipping the mascarpone? Thank you for this additional information. Were you able to bring back this mixture once it curdled/broke? If so, how did you do it? I just had to throw out a double batch because once it reached the soft peak stage, it seemed to go straight to curdled. Thanks and happy baking!